Classic Style Gets New Life at Saint John’s Park Plaza Vintage
SAINT JOHN — Unique, classic, stylish clothes are now for sale at a new vintage clothing store in Saint John.
Newly opened Park Plaza Vintage is a treasure trove of original 60s, 70s, and 80s pieces that have stood the test of time. Housed in an old ghost kitchen at 615 Rothesay Ave, suite 101, even the venue has been upcycled.
“I just love it,” owner Karen Lloyd explains amidst a sink full of baseball caps and racks of beautiful, belted dresses, delicate purses, and lacy tops.
She’s talking not only about her new store but about one of her favourite pieces of vintage clothing.
“I have a red dress, with flowers on it. It’s cotton – kind of frilly. It’s from the 80s and it’s beautiful,” she explains. “It’s got frills on the shoulders and ties up the back. It’s got really nice intricate buttons and daisies. I love daisies.”
Lloyd says her passion for vintage grew from thrifting in Toronto’s bohemian Kensington Market, known for its hole-in-the-wall thrift shops, some of which have been operating since the 1970s, making it a vintage clothing mecca.
“I went to high school in the 90s and there was a little second hand store just around the corner,” Lloyd recalls. “I just spent my lunch breaks digging around in their 3 items for 25 cents bin. And they had 1970s dresses. Everything was so cool, I loved it.”
She says she’s accumulated most of her collection from her thrift journeys over the years in Toronto and that she still is getting pieces from there.
“I have a lot of vintage stores that I have connections with in [Toronto]…and they’re selling in bulk so I can get them for a good deal,” she says. She’s also branching out here in Atlantic Canada as well, checking out thrift and vintage shops for deals from Halifax to Charlottetown.
Vintage takes time to evolve. That stands in contrast to today’s fast fashion where items are mass produced as quickly and as cost effectively as possible.
“I’m really curious to see what vintage will be in 20 years,” Lloyd says. “We’ll still have our 60s and 70s and 90s clothes, but what about 2010?”
The durability of many of today’s fashions lead to the question of if forty years from now kids will be able to wear the old clothes they find in their parents’ closets.
“You can just tell the quality, the craftsmanship that’s gone into these articles of clothing. You can tell by the stitching and the details,” she says.
Lloyd says she hopes the new clothes-buying generation of Gen Z will give vintage a try, not only for the sustainability aspect of vintage clothing but also for the wow factor.
“I understand that they want to dress as weird and eclectic as possible, and I’m all about that.”
Lloyd says it’s been an adjustment trying to find the right price point for some of her pieces and that she’s learning a lot about the market here through her volunteer work at the Kindness Closet.
“I’ve gotten my head out of the Toronto prices … because I’ve collected a lot of pieces over the years and I’ve gotten some really good deals,” she says. “So I’m definitely keeping my prices below Value Village.”
She says some of the pieces that she has that would sell for $40-$80 in Toronto, she’s pricing at under $20.
“Cute, nice, well-made sweaters for $12, jeans for $15. Some cool stuff.”
Among the over 300 pieces she has for sale in addition to the clothing are footwear, sunglasses, and even a bit of home décor pieces. What started as a love of hunting for style, has now branched off to a quest to conserve the environment by using the resources already available.
“I’ve always been artistic and [vintage] has been a way of expressing myself. It’s also the sustainability aspects which I’m really driven more by now,” she says. “Buying new clothes isn’t something I’ve done for a really long time.”
While in Toronto she began writing about sustainability and the clothing industry, finding that her love of vintage fit nicely into the mix.
“I [would blog] about where to find the best eco-friendly shops in Toronto, and so I acquainted myself with even more vintage clothing stores.”
Lloyd says she wants her business to contribute to reducing clothing waste, reducing the amount of pollution used to make clothes, and to end the exploitation of young women in developing countries to make clothes.
“Especially during Covid I noticed the amount of boxes and packages,” she says. “People shopping because there was nothing else to do, it just became apparent how much waste was happening. Not just with clothes but in general.”
Park Plaza Vintage has an active social media presence and participates in clothing swaps and other sustainable clothing initiatives.
Alex Graham is a Huddle reporter in Saint John. Send her your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].